Starting this Friday, June 12, the
League of Legends Asian Games Qualifier will take place in Kuala Lumpur and run until June 14. In the Malaysian capital, 14 nations will compete over three days to determine the six teams that will join South Korea and Taiwan at the final event. That final stage will be held during the
Asian Games 2026 from September 19 to October 4, in Japan, where gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded to the top-performing teams.
Qualifier Format for Asian Games
The
qualifier will be played in two stages. First, the 14 nations will be divided into four groups of three or four teams, with each team facing every other team once in a Best-of-One format. The standings will determine the two teams advancing from each group, with the first and second-place finishers moving on while the remaining nations are eliminated.
The four group winners will automatically qualify but will also compete in an additional group, likely to determine seeding, once again in a Bo1 Single Round Robin format. The four second-place teams will enter another group stage under the same format, with the top two teams from that group securing the final qualification spots for the Asian Games, while the other two teams will be eliminated.
To form the groups, the Olympic Council of Asia, which oversees the competition, established three seeding pools based on the results of the previous Asian Games, held in China in 2023. India, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Vietnam were placed in Pool 1 after reaching the quarterfinals at the last edition. Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates were assigned to Pool 2, having competed in the group stage in 2023. The remaining seven teams were therefore placed in Pool 3: Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
LoL Asian Games Qualifier Groups
GROUP A
Oman / Pakistan / Saudi Arabia / United Arab Emirates
| #1 - Direct qualification | | |
|---|
| #2 - LCQ | | |
| #3 | | |
| #4 | | |
GROUP B
India / Jordan / Kazakhstan / Sri Lanka
| #1 - Direct qualification | | |
|---|
| #2 - LCQ | | |
| #3 | | |
| #4 | | |
GROUP C
Hong Kong / Kyrgyzstan / Malaysia
| #1 - Direct qualification | | |
|---|
| #2 - LCQ | | |
| #3 | | |
GROUP D
Laos / Mongolia / Vietnam
| #1 - Direct qualification | | |
|---|
| #2 - LCQ | | |
| #3 | | |
A special atmosphere
It is also worth noting that many nations are absent from this qualifier, which is the first edition to use a fully global qualification format. During the previous two editions, in 2018 when League of Legends first appeared at the Asian Games and in 2023 in China, qualifiers were held by geographic region, with separate Southeast, South, East, and West brackets. The large number of absences, combined with the lower number of participating nations, likely led to this new format. As a result, only eight nations will compete in the final tournament, compared to 15 in 2023.
Among the notable absentees, China is undoubtedly the elephant in the room, as the country was widely considered the only nation capable of challenging South Korea, the overwhelming favorite for the title. While no official explanation has been provided, geopolitical tensions with Japan, the host nation, appear to be one possible reason behind the withdrawal. Japan itself is also a surprising absentee, marking the first time a host country will not participate in the League of Legends tournament at the Asian Games.
